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Occupy Toronto’s encampment ends peacefully

Eleven people arrested as Occupy Toronto encampment cleared from St. James Park

A line of police march up Jarvis Street for a shift change as they watch
the East end of St. James Park. (STEVE RUSSELL / TORONTO STAR) | Order this photo

A man was taken into custody after refusing to leave St. James Park today. (STAR STAFF)

Police remove tents from St. James Park. (ANDREW WALLACE / TORONTO STAR) | Order this photo

By Brendan Kennedy, Debra Black and Lesley Ciarula Taylor

Wed., Nov. 23, 2011

Occupy Toronto’s 39-day encampment at St. James Park ended peacefully Wednesday, with a handful of arrests and few altercations with police.

Eleven people were arrested in all and most were released on site with trespassing tickets, rather than criminal charges.

All of the tents and other structures had been cleared by 6 p.m., while the protesters held their evening general assembly at Nathan Phillips Square.

Police were visible in the park throughout the day-long eviction, but the non-confrontational, almost cordial, action was in stark contrast to the heavy-handed riot squads that rumbled through the city during the G20.

Tightly wound and sleepless protesters had been bracing for a forceful police action, but it never came.

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Standoffs at the Sacred Fire site, the library yurt and the gazebo were largely resolved through negotiations between police and protesters.

Police negotiated with protesters to “establish a sense of goodwill and fellowship,” said Toronto Police Insp. Gary Meissner, the site commander for the day’s events.

“I think we’ve demonstrated quite clearly we’re committed to a peaceful resolution of this event,” Meissner said. “We’re happy with the conduct of both sides engaged in this event today.”

Protesters also praised the efforts of police in reaching a peaceful resolution to a standoff over the library yurt, which had been barricaded and fortified, with a handful of protesters chaining themselves to the structure.

Citing reports that NYPD officers had destroyed thousands of books when Occupy Wall Street was evicted last week, protesters said they wanted to ensure their library did not suffer a similar fate.

Once they received those assurances from police, an agreement was reached.

“I want to thank the police department of Toronto,” said Ian Smart, one of the men barricaded in the yurt with the books. “This could have ended badly. We’ve seen at G20 how sometimes things can get out of hand. Everyone kept a level head today,” he said.

“I view this as a win for the Occupy movement. We had a strong position on dealing with the library. We asked for the opportunity to save the books, to save the yurt and to … no one getting hurt.”

The yurt itself was dismantled in the early evening and transported off-site by members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, one of seven unions which had donated four of the insulated dwellings — at a total cost of $20,000 — to shelter the protesters through the winter.

What’s next for the Occupy Toronto movement remains to be seen, but will be the focus of Wednesday evening’s general assembly meeting.

“The conversation is expanding beyond the sites of the occupation,” said Kevin Konnyu, one of the volunteer facilitators and a fixture of the local protest. At the same time, Konnyu said occupation of public space is integral to the protest.

“People around the world have recognized that enough is enough, we have to actually make change happen and holding space is part of making that change happen. Where, when, how it will look, that will all be decided by people themselves in a directly democratic fashion.”

Around 10:50 a.m. Wednesday morning, police lifted and carried out a woman who appeared to be blocking a city truck trying to enter the park. She was loaded into a police van as protesters shouted and aggressively confronted police.

The woman was arrested for trespassing, police said. She was later released from custody.

Prior to the arrest, city workers dismantled some tents without incident and police and protesters interacted peacefully.

At about 6:45 a.m., dozens of police officers dressed in rain coats rather than riot gear began to slowly circle the 100 or so tents that remained there, looking for occupants. One lifted a tent flap and said, “Hello? Police.”

Officers posted number codes on tents, apparently to aid their later retrieval by their owners, and marked them with fluorescent orange spray paint.

Police supervised as 20 city staff, starting at the southwest corner, started at 7:30 a.m. to dismantle tents.

Roads around the park had been closed from 6 a.m., Const. Wendy Drummond said. Jarvis St., between Richmond and King Sts. E.; King St. E. between Jarvis and Church Sts. and Adelaide St. E. between Jarvis and Church Sts. were shut down. King streetcars continued to operate.

Tensions rose briefly at 8:30 a.m. when police announced they’d use their own loud-sound system to broadcast a message. Minutes later, they agreed to use the “human microphone” of repeated, chanted messages to tell occupiers to clear out the tents, after which they could continue their protest.

But there was no move to arrest anyone in the park. Police had arrived after 5:30 a.m., the end of the nighttime curfew when a city bylaw prevents people from occupying the park.

A ruling Monday by Justice David Brown enforced the 12:01 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. curfew and declared the tents violated a city bylaw, even though the five-week protest itself was protected by the Charter of Rights.

“We’ve asked the protesters to leave as soon as possible and we appreciate their co-operation,” Mayor Rob Ford said about 90 minutes after the judge’s decision.

“I’m asking the protesters to leave peacefully and I’m asking them to leave as soon as possible.”

At City Hall, Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday said the city will be watching to ensure Occupy Toronto protesters don’t set up in other parks.

“They can use other parks just the same as anybody else but they can’t set up tents and make it their permanent home.”

Holyday said he doesn’t have an estimate of the cost of policing and cleanup.

He said there was no disagreement within the administration over whether to move faster.

“Certainly the administration itself was willing to exercise patience. I think the mayor particularly had shown great patience over this and I think he’s to be commended. As you know, in other cities it didn’t resolve itself this way. It might have taken time to do it this way but I think it was the best way. Certainly, we’re trying our best to make sure it’s resolved peacefully.”

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